It’s that time again. Squash season. I effing love squashes. No, like I REALLY really really really, oh really love them. There are so many of them to choose from! And they’re so colorful. The super market hasn’t looked this pretty in a while. Ugh, I’m like a child’s story book today. Gag me.
But for real. Colorado is looking pretty damn beautiful lately. I love fall. It’s been raining. There’s been lots of lightning. And it’s finally not 90 degrees in my room so I sleep through the ENTIRE night without a drop of sweat on me. Which is pretty impressive with my sweating history. Meaning present history. Wait, what?
Anywho, this recipe is a leftovers recipe. Have you not heard of this yet? Damn you new reader! Get with the program. The recipe is a recipe I made in the past, but my pictures looked as close to vomit as possible so not enough people were interested in trying it. SO, I’ve remade this recipe in hopes that more of you will try out this delicious recipe and love it as much as I do. The bummer part of this recipe is that, well, it just pretty much always looks like dog doo. I tried to fancy it up. Tried to make it look better from the last, but alas, it just ain’t gonna happen. So if you don’t try this recipe out because you think the picture looks gross, jokes on you, your taste buds will remain unpleased. And hate you.
I’m getting excited for the weekend. I will actually spend time OUTSIDE of the coffee shop for once this week and get around other people who love food as much as I do. Think about how weird I must look in the coffee shop when I’m editing pictures of food. Or looking at pictures of myself that are going into my cookbook. Talk about self centered. So, in hopes of showing people that I do like other people other than myself, I will be attending the Do it Better! Paleo Conference which will feature the amazing Michelle from Nom Nom Paleo, Melissa who is the Author of Well Fed Cookbook and The Clothes Make the Girl, and Holly from Holly Would if she Could. Yep. Pretty sweet f*cking line up. I’m pumped. Who wouldn’t want to learn from the best?! And I read their blogs when I was first starting out paleo. Pretty cool. You should go too!!
Soooo there is a dead squirrel outside my house and it smells really bad. I saw these two squirrels fighting in the trees the other day. I’m pretty sure a squirrel on squirrel murder occurred outside of my house last night. Do I call the police?
Leftovers: Chicken Bacon Alfredo
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 1 spaghetti squash, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed
- 1 larger delicata squash, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed
- 1/2lb chicken tenders
- 4–6 slices bacon, diced
- 1/2 cup canned coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your 425 degrees.
- Cut spaghetti squash delicata squash in half and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and excess threads. Don’t be dainty.
- Place open side down on a baking sheet (use aluminum foil or parchment paper for easy clean up) and cook for 20-25 minutes. You will know when they are done cooking when you can poke the outside skin and it ‘gives’ a bit.
- Now you can either cook your chicken at the same time or after the squash is done cooking. Whatever you’d like. Just place chicken on a foil or parchment paper lined baking sheet, sprinkle some olive oil over the chicken (or other kind of fat), salt and pepper it, and sprinkle just a bit of basil on top. Easy peasy. I cooked my tenders for around 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through. Keep that sh*t moist bro.
- Once your squash is done cooking, pull it out of the oven, dethread the spaghetti squash into a large bowl with a fork. Go against the grain, if spaghetti squash had grain.
- Now throw your diced bacon into a skillet and cook until done. Use a slotted spoon to pull out your cooked bacon, but leave behind the grease.
- Take your delicata squash and hollow it out. Unless you want to eat the skin, be my guest. If you’re smart though, you’ll just use the insides and dump them into your warm skillet filled with bacon grease. Then add your coconut milk. You may need to add a little bit more coconut milk depending on how runny you like your sauce. Mix thoroughly with a ladle to break up the squash a bit. I used a pink ladle. It works the best.
- Add seasonings to the mix and salt and pepper as needed. Mix thoroughly and cook on low for about 5 minutes to simmer.
- Now dice up your cooked chicken.
- Pour sauce over spaghetti squash and add your chicken to the mix.
- Mix well.
- Top with bacon. Duh.
- Eat it like you mean it.
Second time making this in 3 days. You, my friend, are a genius.
Jeeeeeeez… google.com… paleo… your site.. *reads* this smells.. that smells… feces outside my work.. shoes smell like living hell… dead squirrel outside your house that smells…. LOL!!!!
You must be living a really smelly life.
Hey! can you replace the coconut milk with almond milk and still get the same results?
It wouldn’t be quite as creamy, probably a bit thinner sauce
I’ve made this recipe a few times now and it’s amazing! I can’t always find delicata squash here (recently moved to the south) so sometimes I use a bigger spaghetti squash and it’s still delicious. I’ve made quite a few of your recipes and they’re all good! This one is one of my favorites! Thanks Juli!
I did a bit of fiddling with this, but kept the flavors the same. As a person with allergies and intolerances too numerous to count I just want to say than you for the awesome recipe! It’s a great help.
This tasted so great.
You know this came out awesome when your teenager posts a photo of it on Instagram!
hahaha that’s super awesome!
I just want to thank you for creating this recipe… it was an orgasm of flavor in my mouth…. pure bliss!
My anti-paleo husband and 1 year old even loved it!
I just made this recipe for myself and the boyfriend a few days ago…for the fifth time! He has told me each time that this is (BY FAR) his favorite recipe that I make. I never thought we’d be able to find a flavorful creamy pasta recipe (that wasn’t the typical boring spaghetti.)
I recommend this recipe to anyone who is missing their pastas and craving some good ol’ comfort food!
Juli – You are fantastic!! Not one of your recipes has let me down yet!! Thanks for making Paleo SOOOOO much easier to stick to!
so glad to hear it!!
Oh man! I just made this using acorn squash and spagetti squash….and who cares if it looks like dog poo it’s the best poo I’ve ever eaten! It is amazing!!
This recipe looks delicious to me! However, my husband HATES butternut squash because of the sweetness. I’ve never had delicata squash, but isn’t the taste similar to that of butternut squash? Does the sweetness of the squash come through in this dish? Would it change it up too much if I left out the delicata squash? I want to try it but am afraid he won’t eat it! Help!
it’s similar to butternut squash. and i think the flavor definitely comes through. and yes, it would change the dish immensely if it was left out